Louisville/Jefferson County Environmental Trust
September 19, 2008

Oversight Board Members In Attendance:
Kurt Mason - Chairman
Lisa Hite for Mike Heitz
Phyllis Croce for H. Schardein
Dudley Saunders
Bob Schindler
Richard Jett for Charles Cash

Oversight Board Members Not Present:
Noel Rueff – Vice Chairman
Reba Doutrick
Jim Braun

Advisory Committee Members In Attendance:
Frannie Aprile

Staff in Attendance:
Lee Wells
Theresa Senninger
Chris Cestaro (minutes)

Guests:
None.

Minutes
Kurt Mason called the meeting to order. Phyllis Croce made a motion to approve the minutes from July 18, 2008 as presented. Richard Jett seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.

Land Conservation Activity

Renaissance Zone CE, 2730 Outer Loop [22-2006-02] / Division of Water
Theresa Senninger said a status conference was held two weeks ago; all deed restrictions were agreed to. The case will be dismissed and the petition withdrawn. Louisville Metro is now in good standing with the Division of Water (Army Corps of Engineers.) She said nothing else needs to be done.

Trinity Adjacent to 1860 & 2230 Outer Loop [22-2000-02] [MSD easement]
Ms. Senninger said a review of the state of the conservation easement is needed. It is now ready to start the process through Louisville Metro Council to approve. She mentioned that Scott Porter is taking Deborah Kent’s place as the attorney for Trinity. She said Mr. Porter wants to review every MSD easement (for possible assignment to LJCET. We don’t have any of theirs at this time – Trinity will be the first.) This can be discussed at next month’s LJCET meeting.

Lisa Hite asked for resolution of the encroachment on the Audubon Ridge conservation easement before LJCET considers holding it and the four other adjoining CE’s along Beargrass Creek.

Richard Jett made a motion to accept the assignment of the conservation easement on the Trinity property. Lisa Hite seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.

Ms. Senninger said this case will be placed on the Metro Council agenda on October 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

Ms. Hite and others discussed the best ways to describe this situation to Metro Council, and how best to explain why it may be beneficial to transfer this easement from MSD to LJCET.

Monitoring / Baseline Activity

Mattingly Conservation Easement 161 Rear Outer Loop [22-2003-03]
Lee Wells showed a large map of the site with the location of a disputed fence marked on it, and also other photos of the entire site. Ms. Hite described drainage problems on the property. Wal-Mart agreed to build a fence to prevent encroachment and allow the property to be accessed by ATV’s.

A nearby resident put in a small garden on the site, which is now overgrown. After discussion, it was agreed that LJCET is legally obligated to get rid of the garden. Phyllis Croce suggested that easements be checked before LJCET takes action on this issue. It was agreed that Kurt Mason write a letter to Sandy Schmitt (sp?) at MSD.

Mr. Wells said signs warning against trespassing had been relocated and/or defaced. He showed additional photos of the Wal-Mart wall. One photo showed that all trees planted next to the parking lot are dead. Ms. Hite suggested putting “No Trespassing” signs next to the adjoining properties. Mr. Wells said there is one already and it is defaced with graffiti.

Mr. Wells said he will get a slide over to Phyllis Croce who will get with her supervisor about the fence. Fletcher-Bright could do a letter to the adjoining property owners.

Renaissance - 2730 Outer Loop [22-2006-02]
Mr. Wells showed photos of the easement. One tree not on the easement was marked to be cut down near the newly-installed telephone lines by Universal Way at the north end of the easement. Mr. Wells asked about realignment of this road for this reason, but the idea was rejected, due to the conservation easement already in effect.

Mr. Wells was very disturbed about the clear cutting that seems to have been done on the easement, but was unsure how to proceed. However, he knew there was also an MSD easement adjacent to the conservation easement, and wondered if that was the reason so many trees were gone that were there at his last visit.

After discussion, it was determined that the exact boundaries of the MSD easement need to be known. Maybe Redwing has that information. Also, find out whether the UPS private road is on the easement. Renaissance has been asked to put up a fence around the easement, but has not yet done so. Redwing is still doing replanting work on the property.

Culbertson Conservation Easement, 8401 Dawson Hill Road [22-2003-01]
There was no additional information regarding this property. Mr. Wells and Carl Suk are still waiting for the leaves to fall before they monitor the land because the GPS will work better then.

Donoho / Van Tillburg – 9207 James Hill Rd. [22-2001-01]
After discussion, it was decided that one last monitoring should be done on the house at the end of the year.

To Do Before the End of 2008 – Balance of Culbertson, Duncan and Part of Musselman/Hilliard
Mr. Suk and Mr. Wells decided they would do the Duncan conservation easement next Friday, September 26, 2008. Mr. Wells said he would send a map of the Musselman property to Lisa Hite; the property owner needs to be informed that there are pre-existing encroachments on the easement.

The Brown property has changed owners – it is now owned by the Musselmans. LJCET must do a survey and meet the new landowners.

Brown Endowment
A $10,000 endowment from Laura Lee Brown has earned $416.00 in interest (Parks Foundation). There may be a fee involved to use the Parks Foundation facilities. With advisors on the Parks Foundation board, they might be able to invest our grant money to yield a greater percentage of interest. Lisa Hite discussed forming a committee.

Land Trust Meeting, August 28, 2008, and Miscellaneous
Lisa Hite described some of the other Land Trust committee representatives that attended this conference. There was discussion at the conference about deficiencies in the western part of the state. Legal issues and accreditation issues were also addressed.

Louisville/LJCET has offered to host this conference in November or December 2008.

As of this date, no coalition of Kentucky land trusts exists. There was discussion about forming one.

It was mentioned that there are several properties at the edge of Cherokee Parkway which might be candidates for conservation easements and/or historic preservation. Staff could have a landowners’ meeting.

Lisa Hite said that tax incentives for conservation easements have been extended through the end of next year (2009). She suggested maybe putting out a press release to publicize this extension.

Reception / Tour
Some type of reception with a tour was discussed. Mr. Wells mentioned coordinating this reception and tour in conjunction with River Fields. Attendees should be “potential easement donors”. Ms. Senninger suggested working with Chris Poynter (liason with the Mayor’s office.) Other ideas were:

• Hold the reception on a property that has an easement that is managed by LJCET
• Hold the reception at the Crown Room at the Judicial Center.
• Hold the reception at the Peterson property (maybe not – may not have adequate restroom facilities.)
• Frannie Aprile offered to hold the reception at her home.

Ms. Senninger suggested Tuesday, October 28^th as a tentative date, maybe from 4:00 p.m. through 5:00 p.m.

(NOTE: Phyllis Croce left the meeting at about 3:00 p.m.)

Some issues that could be addressed at the reception could include responsibilities, tax issues, etc. Councilman Stuart Benson could speak, if the Mayor is unavailable. Ms. Senninger suggested looking into the endowment to see if it is ok to use these funds for the reception.

Ms. Senninger said she would work on a guest list.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:15 p.m.